Metro bus service cuts: Sound off

King County Metro Transit is facing a financial pinch that will force a 17 percent cut in its bus service unless the Legislature provides additional funds or allows the county to vote a tax hike for transit.

The key to whether cuts are prevented likely rests with a quartet of Eastside legislators who are members of the Senate majority coalition — Republicans Andy Hill, Joe Fain and Steve Litzow as well as renegade Democrat and titular Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom.

Metro is facing a 17 percent cutback in King County bus service unless it gets additional money, or can ask voters for more resources.

But the stakes for Seattle neighborhoods could not be higher. Consider one bus line marked for radical change.

The No. 2 bus plies one of Metro’s best routes through the Emerald City. It begins by Lake Washington, travels through Madrona and on to First Hill. It passes close by the Polyclinic, Virginia Mason Hospital and Horizon House — stops important to seniors — and then trundles into downtown, passing the Seattle Public Library.

The bus goes north on Third Avenue, then drops to First Avenue and goes north up the west side of Queen Anne Hill past the Seattle Center.

Metro is studying a change of service, in which No. 2 (and other lines) would be “reduced as part of a group of routes that are being changed to make them more efficient and to preserve service for most riders.”

The service would, however, be radically different for No. 2 passengers. No. 2 would travel downtown via Madison Street instead of Seneca Street. It would terminate at First Avenue rather than going north through Belltown to Queen Anne. Passengers would need to transfer, walking steeply uphill or steeply downhill.

As reported in the December issue of Madrona News, “Madison Street downtown has 10 to 19 percent grades with no fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible bus stops, and it is not convenient to Light Rail or Rapid Ride bus stations.”

No. 2 is just one route. Just to the south, the Leschi neighborhood would lose its No. 27 route, linking to the Leschi business district along the lake.

With what’s at stake, citizens ought to take advantage of upcoming Metro Open House meetings to learn more, and how their commutes might be affected. The meetings include: